Sepehr Shakib1, Alison George. 1. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia. sshakib@mail.rah.sa.gov.au
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Bad prescribing frequently involves writing a prescription for a symptom or a diagnosis and not considering the other steps in the prescribing process. OBJECTIVE: To illustrate the process of therapeutic goals. DISCUSSION: Therapeutic goals are the answer to the patient's question: 'Why am I taking this medication?' Taking this step in the prescribing process allows for a greater consideration of available treatment options, greater individualisation of therapy, avoids treatment on the basis of surrogate endopoints, and may result in greater patient concordance.
BACKGROUND: Bad prescribing frequently involves writing a prescription for a symptom or a diagnosis and not considering the other steps in the prescribing process. OBJECTIVE: To illustrate the process of therapeutic goals. DISCUSSION: Therapeutic goals are the answer to the patient's question: 'Why am I taking this medication?' Taking this step in the prescribing process allows for a greater consideration of available treatment options, greater individualisation of therapy, avoids treatment on the basis of surrogate endopoints, and may result in greater patient concordance.